Ask, Seek, Knock, Repeat....:By Nicole Webb

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him... (Psalm 37:7)

Sometimes we seek God's will for our lives and we don't think He answers us.  I am not about to say that I can explain how God operates, but I would like to share what I have learned.

I began my journey in earnest several years ago to figure out why I am here and what I am supposed to be doing with my life.  Believe me I was asking, seeking and knocking down His door.  God gave me desires in my heart and things that I was passionate about, but I did not understand how any of that could fit into what you would call my "life's work".  So as I received inklings and glimmers of what I believed to be God's leading, I never felt settled or sure about what I perceived or what to do with it.

You see, I was trying to fit what God was telling me into something that my mortal mind could understand.  I wanted a concrete plan that I could get my mind around and analyze. I was waiting for a Eureka moment.  I was allowing God to propose an idea, but I was reserving final creative control.  I was not trusting God to put the plan together, because I was afraid that whatever He came up with would not be right for me and I would be miserable.  I thought God needed my help in designing my life, like He might mess it up or something. 

Now how silly is that?  Well, not very silly I suppose, since many people I know are living this way.  Think about this.  God created me exactly the way I am.  Did He create me to take up space and kill time until I go home to be with Him?  NO.  He created me with a purpose in mind and with particular skills and passions.  Why?  So I can use them for His glory!  We are all part of one body - the Church.  We each have our part to do.  It glorifies God when we realize and embrace who He created us to be and what He created us to do. He made me.  He gave me the skills and passions that I have.  Why did He do that?  He intended for me to use them and using them is the only path to a fulfilled life of purpose and freedom.  Anything else is trying to fit a four-finger glove onto a five-finger hand.

So if I was asking, seeking and knocking then why didn't I immediately get what God was trying to tell me?  This is a case by case story, but for me, there were 3 things that I saw:

1. I was not listening to God.  I heard what He was saying, but I was injecting what Nicole wanted into the conversation.  I asked Him to show me what I was supposed to be doing with my life and then I told Him exactly what I wanted that to be.  Picture me asking you a question and then sticking my fingers in my ears while you answered.  Are you really listening?

2. I was not ready to receive.  I wanted to serve God, but only if it fit into my plans.  I had bondages to several activities that I was simply not willing to surrender to God.  So I would pick and choose the parts of what God was telling me that I liked and leave the rest.  Are you really ready to receive what God is saying to you?

3. My motives were not pure.  God says that if we ask for anything according to His will, He hears us and we have what we ask of Him (1 John 5:14).  So I would ask for what I wanted kind of like this, "Here is what I want_____, if it is Your will would you please bless it?"  Well, that isn't quite what God promises us.  He is looking for us to completely trust in Him to show us His plan, His way, in His time.  Are your motives pure?

I don't know why we make it so hard.  God loves us and He wants to bless us very much. He is not holding back, we are.  We are holding onto certain areas of our lives even when we have given Him our heart.  Search yourself.  What burdens have you not released? Only when you release them to your Father can you be healed and freed from them.  What "thing" are you protectively holding onto?  If you love it so much, surrender it to your Holy Father.  If it is a good and perfect gift from Him, it is yours forever and no one can take it away, but you must receive it from Him and not take it for yourself.  If it is not from Him, you must release it to have any hope of real blessings.  Completely surrender to your Father.  He loves you and wants to set you free to receive all He has for you.  You will be full and even overflowing.  You will have a fulfilled life of unspeakable peace, joy and love as you embrace the truth of who God created you to be.

Pray With Me:  Father, I accept that You created me exactly how I am and gave me certain desires in my heart.  I completely surrender every area of my life to You and ask You to help me when I do not want to, or feel like I can’t.  Whatever You ask of me, I will do it.  I completely trust You and that You put the entire plan for my life together before I was born.  I will seek and obediently follow Your guidance each step of the way.  I trust You to enlighten me to Your plan as You see fit.  I will follow Your leading even when I do not understand it completely, because You see the whole picture and I cannot. Help me to be still before You and wait patiently for You. Thank You for Your plans to give me hope and a future.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.